Our Little Ones
by cofcgirl
Summary: Remus and Sirius start a family, but with the Ministry's hatred of werewolves, will they be allowed to keep their children? COMPLETE.
1. Default Chapter

WARNING: This is SLASH, and male pregnancy. I hope this doesn't bother you, but if it does, don't read!

Disclaimer: I will only say this once. If I owned Harry Potter, I would not be such a poor college student, and I certainly wouldn't be posting stories online.

Remus sat in one of the examining rooms in St. Mungo's, nervously waiting to find out what was wrong with him. He'd woken up everyday for the past few days feeling sick, and Sirius had finally convinced him to get himself checked out. His lover had wanted to come with him to see the Healers, but his work as an Auror made that impossible.

Remus had spent three hours being poked and prodded and examined in what he considered to be a wholly unnecessary manner, before the Healer working on him had walked out of the room, saying that the results of his tests should be ready in a few minutes. That had been two and a half hours ago, and Remus was really beginning to get annoyed. He was sick of being in that room. He was at least glad that he'd had the foresight to floo his boss at Flourish and Blotts and say that he couldn't make it in to work today.

The sandy-haired man was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door to his room open, and so he jumped slightly as his Healer, a man tall, deep voiced black man named Henry Fenwick, said, "Well Mr. Lupin, your tests results are ready. I'm sorry it took so long, but what we found is so unusual that I thought it best to consult a few others before bringing them back to you. I hope you don't mind."

"That's all right. What do you mean, my results are unusual? Is something wrong with me?" Remus asked with a slight frown. He stood up as he turned to look at the other man.

Fenwick shook his head slightly. "Not exactly. You might want to take a seat, however. I do have some pretty big news for you."

Remus' frown deepened as he sat back down on his bench. "What sort of news?" He asked as the other man walked further into the tiny room.

Fenwick glanced back down at the clipboard in his hands, as if checking to make sure that what he'd found was still there. "Well, Mr. Lupin, I'm not quite sure how to tell you this, so I think I'll just say it. You're pregnant, with twins."

Remus went pale. Pregnant? How could he be pregnant? "Are you sure about that? I mean, it's not that I'm saying that you don't know how to do your job, but I thought only women could get pregnant. And I know for a fact that I'm most certainly _not _a woman." He stated, trying to get his head around the concept.

Fenwick nodded, smiling slightly. "Normally, that's true. However, because you are a werewolf, and are involved with another man, you too can become pregnant. I'm not entirely sure why, but my theory is that it is the werewolf in you. Your alter-ego seems to have decided that it is time to start a 'pack' of its own." He said with a laugh.

"So because I'm a male werewolf who happens to be shagging another guy, I'm pregnant?" Remus asked, struggling to understand. Now that he thought about it, it really wasn't all that difficult to understand. He only hoped that Sirius would be happy with this new and altogether unexpected development.

"Exactly. However, before I offer you my congratulations, there are some things that you must know," Fenwick said. Remus noted warily how the other man's expression turned from amused to indignant.

"Let me guess," Remus said bitterly. "My pregnancy is going to have to be monitored by the Ministry because I'm a werewolf?"

"Not quite," the other man said, shaking his head slightly. "Because you are a werewolf, you will be required to submit to another examination by the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They will have a Committee decide whether or not you and your mate will be allowed to keep the children."

"What do you mean? The Ministry gets to tell me whether or not I can raise my own children?" Remus asked in shock.

Fenwick sighed. He hated having to tell the other man this. "Yes, they do. Not only that, but the Committee may also decide to make you have an abortion. It they chose to let you give birth, you may be forced to give the children up for adoption immediately. You and your mate wouldn't be allowed to have any contact with them whatsoever, and you wouldn't even be told their names or gender. Of course, it is also possible that you will be allowed to keep and raise the children yourselves, provided that you and your mate stay together. If you were to split, Mr. Black would be given sole custody of the kids."

"So, assuming that I'm even allowed to give birth to the twins, there is a very good chance that I won't be allowed to see them, much less raise them?" Remus asked angrily.

"Unfortunately, yes. After your examination, the Committee will hold a hearing, and that's when they will make their final decision. You will be given the opportunity to bring character witnesses to speak on your behalf, and prove to the Ministry that you and Mr. Black are capable parents. I will also be called in for my recommendation about whether or not you should give birth to, and raise the children. Any statements you can get on your behalf will undoubtedly be a great benefit to your case." Fenwick said this all with a slightly upset look on his face.

Remus left the hospital not long after talking with Fenwick, and having him set up an appointment with the Ministry for him to be examined. He headed home immediately, wondering how he was going to tell Sirius all this without having him blow up.

A/N: I hope you like this! I'm not sure how long I'm going to make it. Please review, and remember that constructive criticism is much appreciated, but anything else will be completely disregarded.


	2. A Whole New Generation

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I greatly appreciate everyone's comments. Anyway, on with the story! This chapter will also have a little James/Lily in it as well, just to shake things up a bit.

Chapter 2

Several hours later, Sirius still had not returned home. It was nearly seven o'clock, so Remus figured that Sirius must have had a busy day with all the recent Death Eater attacks. He'd already cooked supper; Remus didn't normally like to cook the muggle way, though he was actually quite good at it, but he'd been bored (and a bit nervous) and had decided that would be the best way to take his mind off things. He'd cooked Sirius' favorite meal, lasagna, along with a few other things, but it looked as though Sirius wouldn't be home in time to enjoy it while it was warm.

After waiting another thirty minutes, Remus came to the conclusion that he was tired of sitting there alone, agonizing over what he'd say to Sirius. He decided to drop by James and Lily's house, and have a little chat with them. Getting up from his chair in the living room, Remus walked into the kitchen and placed the left over food in the refrigerator, before leaving Sirius a note, telling him where he'd gone.

Minutes later, Remus appeared with a small 'pop' outside the Potters' home in the small wizarding village, Godric's Hollow. Wrapping his cloak tighter around him to protect him against the October chill, Remus knocked lightly on the door. James opened the door a few seconds later, and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Moony!" He greeted, stepping back to let his friend inside. "Come in, come in. What are you doing here? Nothing's wrong, is it?" He asked with a frown, noticing the slightly worried look Remus had.

"No, nothing's wrong exactly. At least, not yet," Remus added with a small sigh, as he stepped into the comfortable living room. "You wouldn't happen to have any idea where Sirius is, would you?"

"Still at work, probably. I think he had a good bit of paper work to get done, and you know how Moody is about having everything done on time," James said as he followed his friend to the couch. "But you didn't have to come all the way over here for that, you know. You could have just flooed us. So what's up?"

Before Remus could answer, Lily came running into the living room, looking flushed and excited. She didn't even notice Remus' presence as she turned to James and exclaimed, "James, the test, it's positive! We're having a baby!" As James jumped up from the couch and swung his wife around in his excitement, Remus noticed a muggle pregnancy test clutched in Lily's right hand.

When James finally released her, Lily noticed Remus sitting on the couch and said, "Oh, hello Remus! Isn't it wonderful? I can't believe I'm going to be a mother!"

Smiling as he stood up to hug them both, Remus laughed, "Yes, and James is going to be a father. You're going to have a hard time keeping him from spoiling this kid rotten, Lily. Congratulations, though."

Lily laughed as James scowled slightly. "You're probably right about that. Now, what are you doing here? Not that you aren't welcome to come over any time you want, Remus, but we hardly ever see you here without Sirius. Is something wrong with you guys?"

Remus shook his head as he sat back down. "No, I think Sirius is still at work. Although, I did have something I wanted to talk to you guys about, before I tell Sirius."

"What is it?" James asked in concern as he sat down in a chair across from Remus, pulling Lily into his lap.

"It's kind of ironic, really, considering what you two just found out," Remus began with a small laugh.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked curiously, as she settled herself into her husband's lap, pulling her long, flaming red hair back into a pony tail as she spoke.

"Well, as Sirius might have told you, I've been feeling a bit sick in the mornings lately," Remus said. As they nodded, he continued, "So, I went to St. Mungo's today to find out what was wrong. They did all sorts of tests on me, and it turns out that I'm two weeks pregnant with twins." Remus waited anxiously for his friends' responses.

"P-pregnant?" James choked after a moment of tense silence, holding in his laughter. "You've got to be joking. Remus, guys can't get pregnant!"

Remus sighed. "That's what I said. According to the Healer, adult male werewolves who are exclusively involved in sexual relationships with other men are fully capable of becoming pregnant. It's rare, but not at all impossible."

"So you're serious?" Lily asked in shock. Remus nodded, and she smiled. "Well, that's good news, isn't it? I think you would make a great father!"

"Yeah, Moony," James said, once he'd recovered from his shock. "I don't see what you were so nervous about. I mean, I'm sure Sirius'll be happy with this, especially if it's something you want. You know he can't say no to you about anything."

"I know," Remus said with a sigh. "It's not so much Sirius' reaction to the news that I'm pregnant that I'm worried about. I'm much more concerned about how he'll react when he learns that it's up to the Ministry to decide if we even get to keep the children."

"What do you mean, it's up to the Ministry? Why's it any of their business if you want to have kids?" James asked with a frown.

"Healer Fenwick told me that because I'm a werewolf, the I've got to submit to another examination by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then, a hearing will be held to determine whether or not I have to have an abortion, or if I can give birth to them. If they do decide to let me deliver, we might still have to given them up for adoption!" In his frustration, Remus stood up and started pacing around the room. "And something else the Healer told me. No matter what the Committee decides, once I'm no longer pregnant, I'm supposed to take this potion that will make me infertile. That way, I'll never be able have kids of my own after this."

Apparently not knowing what to do with himself, Remus sat back down on the couch, putting his head in his hands in resignation. "Isn't it enough that people hate me because of what I am? I mean, I can't hold a decent job for long, and if I weren't with Sirius, I'd never be able to find a place to live, because I wouldn't be able to afford it! Now, I don't even have a say in the future of my own children."

Lily climbed off of James' lap and moved over to the couch. Putting her arm around Remus in an attempt to comfort him, Lily said, "Come on, Remus, don't talk like that. There's still a chance the Ministry will let you guys raise the twins. If I know Sirius, he won't take no for an answer about something like this."

"Yeah," James said. "Sirius won't let the Ministry keep you guys from taking care of your own children. And there's got to be something we can do to help."

Looking up at them, Remus said, "Actually, there is. Healer Fenwick said that we would be allowed to have several character witnesses speak to the Committee on our behalf, saying that I'm not dangerous, and that Sirius and I would make good parents. He said that it would be best to have as many witnesses as possible, and that he would also be required to give his testimony."

"Well that's it, then." Lily said. "James and I will be glad to testify on your behalf, and I'm sure Peter and Grace will too."

"Yeah," James said in agreement. "I'll bet we could even get Dumbledore to talk to those idiots at the Ministry. He could make them see sense."

Remus nodded, smiling once again. "I hope you're right. I know I only found out about this today, and I still don't know exactly how Sirius is going to react to this, but I'm already very attached to the idea of having kids. I'd be devastated if we had to give them up. I'm sure you know what I mean," he said, throwing a slightly amused glance at James and Lily.

"Of course we do," Lily began. Before she could finish speaking, however, there was another knock on the door.

James got up from his comfortably overstuffed chair with a slight groan. "I bet it's Sirius, coming to look for you, Moony. You know that clingy little git can't go five minutes after work without seeing you," he said with a laugh as he approached the door.

He laughed even harder when opened the door, to find that it was indeed Sirius, holding the note Remus had left in his hand. "Speak of the Devil!" James exclaimed. "Come on in, Padfoot. I'd ask what you're doing here, except that I already know the answer. You came in search of your missing lover?"

"Yes, he left a note saying he'd be here," Sirius said as he entered the house. He smiled as he saw his sandy-haired mate sitting on his best friend's couch. "Hello, love." He said as he sat down next to him, giving Remus a small kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Siri," Remus said, turning to face his lover. "Sorry I left, but I was getting tired of sitting in that boring apartment by myself."

"That's alright. Hey, Lily, what's that you've got in your hand?" Sirius asked, seeing the pregnancy test she was still holding.

Lily smiled happily. "It's a muggle pregnancy test. Turns out, James and I are going to be parents in a few months."

"Really?" Sirius asked, with a surprised look on his face. James nodded excitedly. "That's great! You guys'll be make great parents. Now I'll have the chance to spoil your kid rotten!"

"Hey, if anyone's going to be spoiling my kid, it's going to be me," James said indignantly, as he returned to his seat. Lily got back up and returned to his lap, giving Remus a look that quite clearly said that now would be a good time to break the news to Sirius.

Remus cleared his throat to get Sirius' attention. As Sirius turned to face him, Remus said, "Sirius, there's something I've got to tell you."

"What is it?" Sirius asked in concern, not failing to notice the look that passed between James and Lily.

"Well, it's about what I found out at St. Mungo's today," Remus began. "I'm not really sure how to tell you this." Remus cursed himself for shaking so much. He didn't know why he was so nervous.

"What's wrong? Is it something bad?" Sirius asked in concern. "I'm not losing you, am I?" Sirius could feel himself beginning to break down immediately at the prospect of finding out that the love of his life was dying, even though he didn't even know if that was what was happening.

"No, love, I'm fine, really." Remus said to reassure his lover. "Actually, I'm – well, what I'm trying to say is that we're – going to be parents, too." He looked anxiously at Sirius, as James and Lily smiled encouragingly at the both of them.

Sirius went pale with shock. "What do you mean, we're going to be parents? We can't adopt because of you're lycanthropy, and blokes can't have kids. How can we be parents?" It wasn't that Sirius wasn't in favor of having children. On the contrary, he loved kids, and had quite angry to learn that Remus and he couldn't adopt their own. So naturally, he was very confused as to how they could possibly have kids.

Remus took a deep breath before saying, "Apparently, gay werewolves are indeed capable of baring children. In fact, according to the Healers at St. Mungo's, I'm now two weeks pregnant with twins."

"You're serious?" Sirius asked shakily. When Remus nodded, Sirius broke into a huge smile, before pulling his lover to him and kissing him senseless. "That's great! Now, we've just got to wait for Peter and Grace to get going on starting a family, and we'll have a whole new generation of Marauders in no time!"


	3. The Ministry

Thanks a bunch to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'll try to keep on updating regularly, so pleasecontinue toread and review.

Chapter Three

Remus had waited until the next morning to inform his lover of everything that the Healer had told him. Sirius, as Remus had predicted, had been incredibly furious when he'd been told about the examination and the hearing. Even though they'd always thought that children would be out of the question for them, Sirius was just as happy about the idea of having babies as Remus was. He could not believe that the Ministry was willing to force his lover to have an abortion, simply because he was a werewolf.

As soon as Remus had given him this bit of news, Sirius had set off for the Ministry at once, in a towering rage over the treatment his lover was being forced to endure. Remus, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself than was absolutely necessary, had chosen to stay at home. He had, however, asked James to go with Sirius so that someone would be there to keep him in line. That was why, the morning after Remus and Lily had found out that they were both pregnant, James and Sirius could be found, not at home celebrating their impending fatherhood, but storming through the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. Well, Sirius was storming; James was running several yards behind him, trying to keep up.

James had no idea what Sirius planned to accomlish by visiting the Ministry. All he knew was that his best friend was now on a veritable rampage, searching for the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, most likely so that he could give the man a piece of his mind, for all the good it would do. Sirius knew as well as James did that Ignatious Thunderburg, a rather fat short-tempered man, was about as reasonable as Severus Snape's hair was clean. Everyone at the Ministry knew the man by reputation, if not through any personal dealings with him, and no one liked him. Mr. Thunderburg was the one responsible for most of the recent anti-werewolf legislation, and it was not at all likely that he would raise a finger to help Remus. The simple fact was that the man absolutely hated (and feared) anyone who wasn't techinically fully human. Unfortunately, Mr. Thunderburg was also the only one with the authority to help Remus and Sirius' case at the moment, as the Committee that would be hearing it had not been chosen from the department members yet.

* * *

As it turned out, James had been right to fear that their visit wouldn't accomplish anything. In fact, it had more than likely hurt their case, as Sirius was now no longer allowed to accompany Remus during his examination. This angered Sirius to know end - he knew Remus hated going to the Ministry at all, and he never liked to go alone. It was almost as if he was afraid that he might be arrested just for being there. One week later, Sirius was still fuming over what he'd been told by Thunderburg. Sometimes, he found it hard to believe that he and James worked for the same government as that man. 

As Sirius pulled on his workclothes, he called into the kitchen, "You sure you'll be alright meeting those people by youself, Remus? I know how much you hate going there."

"I'll be fine, Sirius," Remus called back as he finished cooking their breakfast. "It's not as though I've never gone to the Ministry by myself, love."

"I know that," Sirius said, as he walked into the small kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Remus' waist and placed a light kiss on his lips. Grabbing a piece of bacon, Sirius said, "But I also know prejudicedthose gits in the Magical Creatures Department can be. I just don't like the thought of them hurting you. Mmm, this is good love." Tossing another piece of bacon into his mouth before Remus could swat his arm away, Sirius kissed him once more on the cheek before going to the cupboard and getting out two plates.

"Sirius, I know you're concerned, but I hardly think anyone's going to torture me," Remus said as he took two pieces of toast out of the toaster.

"Still, just be careful, will you? And hey," Sirius said, as they sat down at their small table and served each other breakfast, "if you get finished by two, why don't you come up to my department and we can go somewhere for lunch? Come up there anyway, even if you aren't done by then, actually. I'll probably be bored from all the paper work Moody's going to have me doing."

Remus chuckled lightly. "Alright. As long as I won't be distracting you from your work," he said as he buttered his toast.

"Are you kidding?" Sirius scoffed. "Of course you'll be distracting me from my work. But it'll be a very welcome distraction, believe me," he said, leaning across the table for another kiss. "Mmm," he said as their lips met. "You're the best kind of distraction there is."

* * *

A few hours later, Remus was sitting in a waiting room just outside of Ignatious Thunderburg's officewith two other men, one of whom was clearly a magical creature like himself, though Remus couldn't tell exactly what sort. He was supposed to meet with the Department Head, in order to answer a few questions the Ministry had, before seeing thepersom appointed to give him his physical exam. To say that Remus was nervous would be an understatement. Despite what he'd told Sirius earlier, he was also a bit concerned about this meeting. He wished Sirius had been allowed to come with him, but it was pointless to dwell on that. He'd assured Sirius that ifby any chance, somethingdid go wrong,he would 'call'him, using the mindlink that all werewolves shared with their mates.

Suddenly, the door to Remus' right opened, and a young blonde woman in light purple robes stepped out. She might have been pretty, if she wasn't wearing quite as much make-up- it made her look like a two-bit hooker. "Mr. Lupin?" She called in a sickly sweet sort of voice. He nodded slightly at her, and stood up. As he approached her, she said, "Mr. Thunderburg will see you now," before stepping back and letting him enter. "Don't worry, Mr. Lupin,"the womansaid, with what would have been an encouraging smile from anyone else, but on her, it simply gave the impression that she was constipated. "Mr. Thunderburg knows how to deal with _your_ sort of case."

The blonde woman showed him through her own small office and right to a large, chestnut door that clearly led to Mr. Thunderburg's office. She knocked lightly on the door before opening it. "Sir?" She called into the room. "Mr. Lupin is here for his appointment."

"Yes, thank you, Clara," came a gruff voice from within the room. "Show the werewolf in, then," he said impatiently. Remus frowned slightly at the term 'werewolf'. He did have a name, after all. Nonetheless, he nodded politely at the woman as she quite unsincerely wished him luck before he stepped into the room.


	4. The Examiner

Chapter Four

Remus' first impression of Mr. Thunderburg was that he was not someone to cross. He was a short, plump, middle-aged man with balding hair and a rosy sort of complexion that deceptively gave the impression of someone's kind old grandfather. However, the haughty expression on his face and the angry glint in his eyes told Remus immediately that this man was not a kind person at all.

As Remus approached the man's desk, he took a few seconds to look around the office. It was large and rather well lit, but it looked more like a hunting lodge than it did a work place. There were dear antlers on the walls, as well as husks of various magical creatures that Remus knew were endangered; it was illegal to kill them, but it seemed that Mr. Thunderburg couldn't be bothered with such trivialities. Remus also noticed a rather large painting on the wall behind Mr. Thunderburg's desk, depicting in fairly graphic detail a wizard hunting down a werewolf pack. Remus shuddered. Like all wizard paintings, this one moved, showing one of the younger members of the pack being killed by the hunter.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin," Thunderburg said, in the same gruff voice. "You're on time. Good." He stopped speaking as he noticed where Remus' attention was focused. He smiled maliciously. "I see you've noticed my painting. I'm rather fond of it, though I don't suppose _you'd _be able to appreciate its beauty," He said rather snidely. Obviously, he was hoping to get some sort of angry response.

Remus merely raised an eyebrow at the man. "No, sir, I don't suppose I would." He agreed, keeping his tone neutral. Remus knew that nothing would be gained by making this man angry, no matter how insulted he was.

Thunderburg imitated the gesture. "Not going to get angry, eh? Good, things'll go much smoother that way," he said with a small chuckle. He shuffled a few papers around on his desk, until he finally found the one he was looking for. "Now, Mr. Lupin, I've got a few questions to ask you, before you see our Healer."

* * *

"Sirius, will you please relax? Moony's fine!It's not as if they can actually do anything to hurt him, you know,"James said, sighing in exasperation. They'd been at work for three hours, and both of them had piles of paper work to do. Sirius, rather than fill out reports about Death Eater attacks, had taken to pacing first his own and then James' cubicle when the time for Remus' appointment approached. He knew James and Remus were both right - it was just an interview and a physical, after all, what was there to be worried about?

"I know," Sirius said. "But I can't help worrying, you know?" He sighed as he sat down in a chair across from James' desk. To be honest, Sirius had no idea why he was so nervous. All he knew was that he would much rather be with Remus right now.

* * *

Remus' interview with Mr. Thunderburg had taken nearly an hour, and had involved questions that were much too personal for Remus' taste. However, he'd answered all of them honestly; he'd rather not risk getting into trouble with the Ministry by making them think he had something to hide - not when they could force him to give up his children.

After the meeting, Mr. Thunderburg's secretary, Clara, had led Remus to a small examining room on the next floor, and told him to wait for his assigned examiner. Remus sat on the metal slab that evidently served as an examining table for nearly five minutes, looking around the bare white room, before a tall, thin man with flaming red hair and icy blue eyes entered. Remus recognized him immediately; his name was David Cooke, and he'd been a Ravenclaw in the same year as Remus. David smiled when he looked up from his clipboard to see Remus sitting there.

"Hello, Remus. I don't suppose you remember me, do you? It's been quite a few years since we left Hogwarts, after all," he said, moving forward with his hand outstretched.

Remus took his hand and shook it warily. "Yes, I remember. We were both Prefects." He was a little uneasy about having David examine him. The redhead had been one of the only other boys in the school who was gay, besides Remus and Sirius, and he'd never made a secret of the fact that he'd found Remus attractive. Remus remembered how the boy had never missed a chance to hit on him, or ask him out. Even when Sirius was around, David had continuously hit on Remus, resulting inthe redheadtaking several trips to the Hospital Wing, and Sirius getting several more detentions. Remus wondered if David was still attracted to him.

David nodded as he released Remus' hand. "Right then, I guess we'd better get on with this, eh? I'll need you to lay down on the table...good," he said, as Remus followeddid as he was told. "Now, Remus, I'm terribly sorry, but this exam, in case you didn't know, is going to be a bit, er, 'hands on' shall we say. I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable." David said, his expression radiating concern. Remus wondered how sincere that concern was.

"What do you mean, 'hands on'?" Remus asked, as he tried to make himself comfortable on the cold, hard table.

David looked somewhat uncomfortable."Er, well, what I mean is that I'm going to have to physically touch you, instead of using my wand to do anything. Sorry'bout that. Ministry regulations and all, y'know. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt,"he said with a blush.

Remus did so, very reluctantly. He desperately wished that Sirius could have accompanied him. It would have made him feel much better about having to be half naked in front of someone who'd lusted after him for so long in school. Remus could tell, as he slipped his shirt off, that David was still very much attracted to him, as the other man eyed his chest lustily.

* * *

After a while, Sirius did go back to his own cubicle. He attempted to get back to work, but decided that it was useless; he simply couldn't concentrate. Just as he was picking up a file from his desk, however, Sirius heard something- in his mind. Remus was calling him. 


	5. Hearing the Call

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Please keep it up.

Chapter Five

Sirius jumped up from his desk and ran out of his cubicle as fast as he could, racing towards the elevators on his floor. People turned and stared as he flew past, but Sirius hardly even noticed. All that mattered to him was Remus. He could still hear his mate calling him as he reached the elevators and began jabbing the call button as hard as he could, as if that would make it come any faster.

"_Sirius!" _he heard Remus' voice yelling. _"Sirius! Help!"_

Jumping into the elevator as soon as the doors were open, Sirius slammed his palm on the down button. _"Remus!" _he responded in his mind. _"I'm coming. What's wrong? What are they doing to you?"_ The only response Sirius got was a feeling of panic welling up inside him – and he wasn't sure if it was from himself, or Remus.

As he reached what he somehow knew was the right floor, Sirius sprang out of the elevator as fast as he could, knocking someone over in the process. Not even pausing to apologize, he set off at a sprint as he followed the direction his bond with Remus was pulling him in. Sirius sped up when he passed through a set of doors labeled 'Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures'. He vaguely registered hearing a woman he knew to be Ignatius Thunderburg's secretary calling for him to stop. Sirius ignored her, intent on getting to Remus. Dodging several desks as well as people, Sirius reached a wide set of wooden doors and was just about to push them open, before he felt himself being pulled back by two pairs of hands.

He was roughly turned around, and Sirius found himself face to face with two hulking Ministry Watch Wizards, both of whom had their wands trained on him. They parted to let Mr. Thunderburg's secretary, Clara Towskip, speak with him. Sirius growled at all three of them, irritated at them for keeping him from getting to Remus. He could sense that his mate was in the room just behind these doors, and was greatly frustrated that he'd been stopped.

"Mr. Black! What on earth do you think you are doing!" The woman exclaimed indignantly, her blonde hair falling out of place as she shook her head in disapproval. "You can't just go running through the Ministry! You're an Auror! You should know better!"

Sirius growled menacingly at her. "Let me spell it out for you, woman. My mate is behind these doors. He is in danger. There is absolutely nothing you can do to keep me from getting to him. Is that clear?" Not waiting for a response, Sirius turned on his heal, pulled out his wand, and approached the doors again. Before anything could be done to stop him, Sirius wrenched the doors open. He disregarded the cries of indignation he heard from Ms. Towskip as he marched right into the room. What he saw enraged him even more.

Remus was lying unconscious and naked with the exception of his boxers on a hard metal slab in the middle of the room. His arms were strapped to the table, as though to keep him from struggling. A red-haired man Sirius recognized as David Cooke was standing on the other side of the table, about to remove Remus' boxers. Sirius growled once again.

He stalked angrily over to the man, grabbed him by the back of his robes, and slammed him against the opposite wall. David yelled in pain and surprise, before shutting up at the look Sirius was giving him. Sirius wondered briefly why the security guards weren't stopping him, but decided it didn't matter. He focused his attention on the man he was now practically choking.

"What," he ground out, "do you think you were doing? That didn't look like any sort of physical I've ever had. So why was it necessary for you to knock out and undress my mate?" Sirius pushed David into the wall even harder, demanding an answer.

"It's p-procedure," the redhead choked out.

"Procedure, my ass. Tell – me – the – truth," Sirius demanded. "Why the hell were you touching Remus?"

Before the man could respond, Sirius heard a voice coming from the doorway. "Sirius! What's going on? Why did you run out like that?" James asked in a huff. Apparently, he'd managed to follow Sirius when he left. "Oh," he said, as he saw the condition Remus was in. "Never mind. I'll ask something else, then. Why then hell is Remus like that? I thought he was supposed to be getting a physical!"

"I was just about to find that out. Wake Remus up, will you?" Sirius asked, nodding at his mate, who was still lying on the table. "I'm not done with this idiot yet." James nodded, and released Remus before muttering a spell and waking him up.

"Now," Sirius growled, "what was going on?"

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth," David said with a wince. "I performed the actual exam in a few seconds with my wand, then told him that I still had a few things that needed to be done hands on. When he realized the truth, he started to struggle and I had to subdue him. But this is part of the procedure I was told to perform by Mr. Thunderburg,"

Sirius could tell the man was being honest, so he finally released his hold on him. He turned back to his mate, as James helped him to sit up. "Remus?" Sirius asked. "Are you okay, love?"

Remus looked up at Sirius and smiled weakly. "I'm all right, just a little shaken. He didn't actually get any farther than touching, which is a relief. If he had-" Remus broke off as he started to shake slightly. James released his hold on Remus, and went over to gather up Remus' discarded clothes.

Sirius was by Remus' side immediately. The black-haired man knew what Remus was trying to say. If someone other than their mate ever took a mated werewolf, they'd die painfully. He threw his arms around Remus, pulling him into a tight embrace. "He wouldn't have. I won't let anyone do that to you, love. I'll kill them if they even try it," Sirius whispered as he began rocking Remus gently.

James joined his two friends sitting on the table, handing Remus his clothes. "Yeah," he said. "And I'd have been right behind him, Moony. No one hurts one of my best friends and gets away with it. We'll have to make sure this git gets arrested. It's a crime to rape a mated werewolf. He'll be thrown into Azkaban for certain," James said in satisfaction. Sirius noted that David was now lying on the floor, tied up with ropes that James had evidently conjured.

"Yes," Sirius said in agreement. "James and I will take him in immediately. No matter how the Ministry feels about werewolves, love, they'll definitely have to prosecute him for this."

Remus still looked a little anxious as he pulled his clothes back on. "But I'm still going to have to come back for another physical, and if he's telling the truth about this 'procedure' being a part of the department policy, then-"

"Remus," Sirius stated fiercely. "I don't care what the Ministry says. You are _not_ going through this again. At least not without me here with you." He stood up and walked over to his mate, wrapping his arms possessively around the beautiful werewolf's thin waist. "If they've got a problem with that, then they can go screw themselves for all I care."

"I don't want you getting into anymore trouble than you're already going to be in, Sirius." Remus protested.

Sirius pulled Remus even closer to him, saying, "I just told you that I don't care what the Ministry says. There's nothing they can do that will keep me from being with you during your exam. It's as simple as that." He cut off any further protest by kissing the other man passionately.

A/N: I know thismay bea little short, and had nothing to do with the babies, but the rest of the chapters will! I just had to get this one out of the way.


	6. At The Pettigrews'

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I really appreciate constructive criticism, so any helpful suggestions will be nice.

Chapter Six

It turned out that Remus' fear about having to go through another physical like the first one were unjustified. After James and Sirius arrested David, they saw to it that everyone knew what sort of procedures Mr. Thunderburg was forcing werewolves to undergo. Although they failed to get Mr. Thunderburg removed from office as they'd hoped, he was told that the Ministry was going to be investigating him and his employees. He would undoubtedly lose his job if he was found to be ordering any more unsatisfactory practices. David was not only arrested, but after hearing testimony from Remus and several other patients who had seen him with similar reports, he was convicted and sentenced to life in Azkaban.

Sirius was especially happy because Remus did not have to go through another physical - the Ministry had apparently decided that the one he'd recieved at St. Mungos was more than enough. Now, all they had to worry about was the hearing, which was set to be on Novemer 3rd, two weeks from tomorrow.

They had already listed James and Lily as character witnesses, and now Remus was on his way to Peter's house to enlist his help as well. Peter lived in a small wizarding village several miles outside London, called Mayonaise. He still lived with his mother at the moment, but had plans to moveto ahousein Hogsmeade after his marriage to his fiance, Grace Pole. Gracewas one of Lily's closest friends, and had been a fellow Gryffindor in their year. She and Peter started dating at the start of their sixth year. James and Sirius had been quite shocked to learn that their supposedly shy friend had actually asked a girl out without consulting them first. They had been even more shocked (and a little offended)when Peter told them that he'd gotten Remus' helpboth with asking Grace out, and planning the date.

Grace and Peter already knew about Remus' pregnancy, as Sirius had gleefully made the announcementa few weeks agoat a meeting for the Order of the Pheonix. They had already agreed to help their friends in any way they could, but now Remus had to get them to sign a few documents that would make them official witnesses. Remus rang the doorbell of the Pettigrew's small, one-story home and waited for an answer. A few seconds later, the door was opened by an elderly woman with short grey hair and watery blue eyes. She smiled warmly upon seeing who it was.

"Hello Remus! Come in, come in. I suppose you're here to see Peter then?" She asked as he followed her into the cramped but comfortable living room.

"Yes, I am. Is he busy?" Remus asked, sitting down on an overstuffed couch against the back wall of the room.

"Actually, he's not here yet. He just owleda while ago to say that he and Grace would be running a little late - he had to fire someone atthe Apothecary shop they opened, you know, and now they're having to close the store up themselves," Mrs. Pettigrew said, before entering the adjoining kitchen. "Would you like some tea Remus? I'm sure they won't be long, but you never know."

"Yes, please," Remus said, getting comfortable. "Why'd they have to fire someone? I thought Peter and Grace said all their employees were working wonderfully."

"Well, that's what they thought," stated Mrs. Pettigrew, frowning in disapproval as she set came back into the room a few moments later with two steaming cups of tea. She handed him his tea before sitting down in a chair across from him. "But then they found out about a week or so ago that the man they'd hire to work weekends, what was his name? Jack Silver? Jack something, I know. Anyway, they found out not long ago that he'd been stealing potions ingredients from the shop. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough proof to have the man arrested, so they just had to fire him. Terrible business, that. But enough about all that. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I just had a check-up today, and the Healer said that the babies are coming along nicely. Though I suspect you can probably see that for yourself," Remus said with a laugh. Indeed, now that Remus was about a month pregnant, he was starting to show. It was a bit of a problem, considering that men weren't supposed to be pregnant. Whenever he was going somewhere where their would be people who weren't aware of either of his 'conditions', Remus was forced to place a concealment charm on himself, in order to keep others from finding out the truth.

Remus chatted with Mrs. Pettigrew for a few more minutes before they both heard the front door being pushed open. He turned to see Peter entering the room carrying an armload of groceries, followed by a pretty girl with waist-length strawberry blonde hair. As Peterand his mother went to put thegroceries away, Grace greated Remus.

"Hello, Remus. How are you and Sirius? I hope the babies are doing alright!"She said, sitting in the chair Mrs. Pettgrew had jus vacated.

Remus nodded. "Everything's going alright so far. The babies are both healthy, asfar as we can tell. It'sstillmuch too early to tell whether we've got boys or girls, but Sirius and I are very excited. Or at least we will be if the Ministry sides with us, and lets us keep them."

"Oh, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Rem," Grace said sympathetically. "I mean,now the Ministryknows what sort of man that Mr. Thunderburgis, they're bound to keep a tight leash on him, so to speak. And he's been the main onepushing all that ant-werewolf legislation, right?"

"Grace is right, Moony,"Peter said as he reentered the room and saton the arm of Grace's chair. "Besides, you guys'll have us, James andLily, and Dumbledore helping you. There's no way they won't let you keep the kids."

Remus smiled. "You're right. I'm just being stupid.Anyway, Ibrought the papers aroundfor you two to sign,"he said as he reached into his robes and pulled out a small packet ofdocuments. "So if you'll just read through everything and then turn it back in to the Macigal Creatures department by Monday,that'd be great. Oh, and Lily wanted me to invite you to over to their house next weekend. James has decided that he wants to throw yet another of his parties, where they're asking everyone they know to come."

"Okay, thanks. We'll owl them after dinner and let them know we'll be there," Grace said as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. "What time does it start?"

"Not a clue," Remus said as he stood up. "You'll have to ask Lily. You know James'll probably forget the time. Anyway, I'd better go - it's getting a bit late and Sirius is probably wondering where I am."

"Are you sure you've got to leave, Remus?"asked Mrs. Pettigrew, returning to the living room as Peter and Grace stood up."I was just about to serve dinner, and there's plenty for you if you want some," she offered.

"I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check on that one, ma'am. Sirius and I've already got plans for tonight; otherwise, I would be glad to stay," Remus said as he moved towards the door. "Thank you again for doing this, guys. I can't tell you how much Sirius and I appreciate it."

"Oh, hush. It's nothing, Remus, we're glad to do it!" Grace exclaimed as she engulfed him in a warm hug.

"Yeah, Moony. How could we not help you out? You and Sirius would do the same for us," Peter said.

"Still, thanks. Well, I guess I'll see you later. Thanks for tea, Mrs. Pettigrew!" Remus called, shaking Peter's hand before leaving.

* * *

Sirius paced the living room in his flat worriedly. Remus should have been home ours ago. What could possibly be taking so long? Surely Peter and Grace hadn't wanted him to stay and go over the papers with them. Just as Sirius was beginning to wonder if Remus had been captured by Death Eaters, he heard the door opening. Whirling around to face the noise, Sirius was relieved to see that it was his lover.

"What took you so long?" He asked as Remus walked into the living room.

"Peter and Grace were running late, and weren't there when I arrived," Remus said, giving Sirius a light kiss on the lips. "I talked with Peter's mum for a while before they showed up. Sorry if I worried you, love. We're not late, are we?" Some friends of Sirius' from work had asked them to come to dinner later that evening.

"No," Sirius said. "We'veonly got about an hour or so before we need to meet Richard and the others, but we'll make it if you hurry and get dressed now." They were going out to one of the more expensive restaurants in Diagon Alley, and then to aMuggle dance club. (A/N: I'm feeling too lazy at the moment to describe what he's wearing, so just imagine something nice and sexy, and fill in on your own.)

"Where is it we're going again?" Remus called from the bedroom.

"That new place in Diagon Alley. I can't remember the name, and I don't know the dance club we're going to later," Siris said as he checked his reflection in a mirror.

"I think I know the restaurant. Who else is coming, besides us?" Remus asked as he looked at the clothes Sirius had picked out for him to wear (he didn't know what to wear to a club, as he'd never been to one before).

"Just some guys from work. I don't really know who other than Ricky and Cameron." replied Sirius.

"What about James?" Remus asked.

"Nah, Lily would never let James go to a nice restaurant without her. Besides, we're going to a gay club, so I don't think he'd be interested, do you?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

Remus chuckled lightly as he finished dressing. "No, somehow I don't think he would. But then, I'm rather hoping _you _aren't that interested, either. I'd hate to have to drag you away from some other man."

Sirius' breath caught in his chest as he saw Remus walking back into the living room. "You look absolutely gorgeous, love," he breathed. "Not that you don't everyday, but...well, trust me - you won't have to worry about me running off with anyone else. I'll probably be having to beat off all the guys who'll want to steal you away from me!"

Remus blushed slightly, asking, "Um, Sirius? Won't your friends wonder why I won't be drinking anything? What am I supposed to tell them if they ask?"

"Already thought of that, love. I told them we're coming on my bike, so if they ask, we'll just say we're not drinking anything so we won't get in a wreck on the way home," Sirius answered, walking over to Remus and wrapping an arm around his waist. Remus couldn't stand Apparating or flooing now that he was pregnant - they both made him feel sick, and he never took the Knight Bus if he could avoid it, so he'd been walking or riding the back of Sirius' bike whenever he had to go somewhere.

"Alright," Remus said. "Shall we go? It's almost ten til eight now, if we don't leave soon we definitely will be late."

Sirius nodded, kissing Remus on the cheek before saying, "You're right, we need to leave. Though," he added with a whisper in Remus' ear, "with you dressed like that, I'm tempted to just floo Ricky and tell him we can't come."


	7. In Court

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I really appreciate constructive criticism, so any helpful suggestions will be nice.

Chapter Seven

The hearing took place one week after Remus' visit with the Pettigrews'. He and Sirius were sitting in a waiting room, just outside of the conference room where the hearing was taking place. James, Lily, Peter and Grace had already spoken on their behalf, and now it was Professor Dumbledore's turn. Remus was fidgeting nervously, while Sirius paced the confines of the room in his anxiety. They'd been waiting for nearly three hours as each of their friends walked into the conference room when their time came. Neither of them knew how things were going so far,and wondered what could be taking so long.

Just as Sirius was about to return to his seat beside Remus, the door on the opposite side of the room opened, and a young man with blonde hair and dull grey eyes stepped out carrying a clipboard. "Mr. Sirius Black and Mr. Remus Lupin? You may come in now."

Remus stood up, giving Sirius a nervous glance as they approached the door. "I'm sure everything'll be fine, love," Sirius whispered to him. He wrapped an arm around the shorter man's waist and gave him a reassuring kiss before they entered the other room.

* * *

The two men were led into a large room that looked like a smaller version of Courtroom Ten, where Sirius and James had both given numerous testimonies against Death Eaters they'd caught, except that there were tables. Therewere three raisedlevels of stadium-likeseats surrounding the center of the room. At the highest level, there was a long rounded table with enough room for as many as ten people. On the first level, directly opposite from the judges' table were twosmaller tables for the witnesses to use. In the very center of the room there was a small wooden table for two people to use.

Siriusand Remusnodded briefly at their friends before taking their seats at the smallest table. The committee assigned by the Ministry consisted of three wizards and three witches,two of whom looked as if they'd been around when the Ministry was formed, nearlythree hundred years ago. Sirius was glad to see that Mr. Thunderburg was not among them. However, he noted with some surprise that his assistant, Carla, was part of the committee. He considered protesting; after all, he knew from experience that she could be almost as prejudiced as her boss. Sirius only hoped that the others might be more reasonable.

All of them were wearing black robes with a small badge representing the Ministry of Magic on their right shoulders.On the far end of the table sat red-headedman who was evidently the court scribe. One wizard who, with flowingwhite hair that waseven longer than Dumbledore's,looked to be the oldest of the lot banged a heavy metal gavel on the table and said in a wheezy high pitched voice, "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin, you are aware that we are here today to determine the custody of your unborn children?"

Both men nodded tightly before Sirius answered, "Yes, your honor. We are _very _much aware of that."

The committee chairman scowled slightly at Sirius before saying in his wheezy voice, "Indeed. We have decided to allowMr. Blackto make a short statement before we offer our decision. Do you know what you wish to say?"

"Wait a second," Sirius said, his eyes taking on an angry glint. "What do you mean, you've decided to allow _me _to give a testimony? What about Remus? He's the one who's going to be carrying these kids and giving birth to them - shouldn't _he _be able to speak too?"

"Sirius, don't," Remus murmured, taking hold of his mate's hand. "Now isn't the time."

Before Sirius could respond,Carlacondescendingly said, "Mr. Black, as a Ministry employee, you should know that _werewolves _are not allowed to testify for any reason unless they are on trial. And after reviewing Mr. Lupin's record, I must say that he is lucky not to be in trouble today."

Sirius' scowl deepened when he heard this, and he began to rise out of his seat in indignation. Remus grabbed his arm and forced him back into his seat, whispering, "Sirius, stop it. I'm angry about what she said, too, but don't you realize what they're trying to do? They're trying to provoke us, so they can say that we won't be fit parents. Just calm down and ignore them."

"Remus-" Sirius began, but Remus interrupted him.

"Let it go, love. Please?"

"All right," Sirius said. He took a calming breath before turning back to face the committee. "Since you won't let Remus speak, then yes, I would like to say something."

He sat silently for a moment, trying to get his thoughts all in order. Taking another look at the judges, Sirius noted that the witches and wizards who hadn't spokenappeared to be sympathetic. In fact, one of the other witches, a brunette with long curly hair and alert grey eyes was glaring down the row at Carla, who was doingher best to ignore her. Sirius stood up and walked around the table so that he was standing directly in front of the committee.

"All I want to say is this. Remus and I never planned on having children. As far as either of us knew, there was no hope of us having kids of our own, and adoption was out of the question. To be honest, I had convinced myself that I didn't really want children. But when I found out that he was pregnant, that we were going to be parents, I realized that I'd been wrong to think I didn'twant orneed a bigger family. I was shocked, to say the least," Sirius said with a small grin. "But once it sank in, I felt...complete. As if that was something I'd wanted all my life, without even realizing it. Now, I can't stop thinking about how great it would be to do all the things my own parents never did.Remus and I wantto teach our kids how to play quidditch, buy them their first wands,tell them about all the pranks we pulled at school. We want to do all that and more. And I _know _that we can," Sirius said, his face taking on a determined look.

"So what if Remus is a werewolf?" He said, glaring pointedly at Carla. "Werewolves aren't born, so if you're worried about us breeding some sort of army, well that's just ridiculous. And if you're worried about Remus biting one of them, don't. We'll do what's best for them, make sure that they're safe during the full moon nights. If you're worried about us being bad parents, don't be. We want these kids more than anything." With that said, Sirius took his seat once more, not looking at anyone besides the committee members.

Remussmiled proudly at Sirius and leaned in to say, "That was beautiful, Sirius."

Sirius flashed a nervous smile at his mate before whispering back, "It's true. I just hope it worked."

When they turned back to face the committee, they saw that the members were currently whispering amongst themselves. Everyone else sat silently, wondering what the committee's decision would be. Sirius glanced behind him, and James and Peter eachgave him an encouraging smile. Lily and Grace nodding andspeaking quietly to each other, while Healer Fenwick and Professor Dumbledore were simply watching the proceedings with a sort of serenity that Sirius envied.

After what felt like hours, the chairman banged the gavel loudly once more. Remus went pale, and Sirius grabbed his hand, holding on tightly. Sirius could feel himself beginning to sweat as the elderly wizard said, throughing an admonishing glare at Lily and Grace, "Order in the court, please. The committee has reached its decision."

"It's about damn time," Sirius heard James mutter from his seat in the back.

A/N: I'm evil, I know.Sorry this is so short, but at least I've FINALLY updated! I've been suffering froman unfortunate lack of inspiration. Anyway, please review! Reading reviews really makes my day.


	8. The Decision

A/N: Well, here it is. The long awaited decision. Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

"Order!" The head of the Committee shouted, as he banged his gavel unnecessarily heavily. The man glared at James for good measure, making it clear that such comments were not appreciated. James simply sat in his seat, staring impatiently back.

"As I was _saying_," he sneered, with another glare at James. "The Committee has made its decision. We have decided to allow the birth of the children. However-"

Thinking that the rather unpleasant judge had finished giving the decision, Sirius stood up with a loud yell of triumph. He yanked Remus to his feet before pulling him in to a deep kiss, not even caring that the judges might not approve of his behavior. They'd won! Sirius dimly registered that the rest of their friends were also cheering in celebration, while the Chairman attempted to return order to the courtroom. However, no one paid him any heed until he pulled out his wand and shot off a rather large and lethal looking fire-cracker that exploded right above Healer Fenwick's head, and would have caught the man's hair on fire if he hadn't managed to duck just in time. Everyone quieted down and returned their attention to the front.

"Thank you," the judge huffed. "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Fenwick, but it _was_ necessary to get everyone's attention. Now please return to your seats. I have not yet finished giving the Committee's decision."

"Your Honor, I don't understand," Remus protested without thinking as he sat back down. "You said we would be allowed to keep-"

"Mr. Black," Clara interrupted, her face contorted into a condescending sneer (she seems to like that look). "Would you please keep you _mate _under control? If you do, you _might _be able to learn the Committee's decision."

Sirius jumped back to his feet with an enraged snarl. "Why you little-"

Remus just managed to keep Sirius from lunging across the room by grabbing onto his arm. "Ignore her," he whispered as he pushed Sirius back into his seat. Sirius ceased his attempts to reach the woman so he could strangle her, but still growled dangerously at her from his seat.

"Sorry," he ground out, staring defiantly at Clara.

The Chairman paused a moment before resuming his little speech. "May I continue, Mr. Black?" He asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," Sirius answered sardonically, returning his gaze to the elderly man.

"Good." The elderly wizard continued. "Now, while the Committee has decided to allow the birth of the children, we do not believe it would be in anyone's best interests to let you keep them."

At this, everyone jumped to their feet again, this time in outrage. Surprisingly, it was Grace who's shout everyone heard. "What do you mean, they can't keep them? It's their children you're talking about! I don't see you trying to take the James and Lily's unborn child, so why take Sirius and Remus' kid? This is- that's just- wrong!"

"Miss Pole, if you do not sit down right now you will be held in contempt!" The Chairman shouted, nearly apoplectic with indignant anger. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Now, it is our decision that for their safety, the children will be taken immediately upon their birth. You will not name them. You will not know where they are going to be taken. You will have no contact with them whatsoever. That is all." He banged his gavel once more, signaling the end of the hearing.

Sirius stood up in anger and stated, "No, that is _not _all! If you're going to force us to put our children up for adoption, the least you could do is let us pick who's going to take them-"

The Chairman sighed in exasperation and said, "Mr. Black, the children are _not _going to be adopted."

Sirius was confused. He eyed the Committee members warily saying, "But if you're not going to let us raise them, and they're not going to be put up for adoption, then what-"

"They're going to _study _them," Remus said, his eyes wide as he stared in horror at the white haired wizard in front of him. "You're going to put our babies in a lab and study them like some sort of experiment." His eyes filled with tears at the thought.

"Of course we are," said one of the judges who hadn't spoken yet. "What else would we do with the creatures? The children of a human and a male werewolf? They're bound to have some sort of interesting traits our medi-wizards will want to study. Isn't that right, Mr. Fenwick?"

At this question, everyone turned their attention to the Healer, waiting for his response. He frowned at the Committee before grudgingly admitting, "That is entirely possible. However, taking these men's children simply to treat them like muggle lab-rats is morally and ethically wrong. It's unjust, and I for one intend to lodge a complaint."

"Forget complaints," James said with an angry glare at the people who were planning to take his best friends' kids. "We're going straight to the Minister and demanding he overturn the decision, or at least set up another hearing." Lily, Peter, and Grace nodded in agreement.

The brunette who'd spent a large part of the hearing glaring at Clara stepped apart from her fellow Committee members and said, "And I intend to do whatever I can to help you get the decision overturned. There is no reason for you not to raise your own children."

Remus and Sirius stared at her in surprise. Wiping his eyes, Remus stepped forward and said, "That you. We'll appreciate any help we can get."

A/N: Please don't hate me! I know this is short, but the next chapter will be much longer. And we will finally see the little ones! Yay! Please review. And don't worry, things will begin to look up for our parents-to-be.


	9. Problems

Chapter Nine

Eight months had gone by since Remus first found out that he was pregnant. He and Sirius had been through six different appeals with the support of their friends, as well as Healer Fenwick, Professor Dumbledore, and the lone Committee member who'd supported them, a woman by the name of Scythia Sinclair. The last one ended yesterday, with the Ministry finally agreeing to allow Remus and Sirius to keep their children – on the condition that they are examined by Ministry medi-wizards at regular intervals, as well as St. Mungos' Healers. Neither Sirius nor Remus really had a problem with that condition, as it would insure that the children stayed healthy.

Now, Remus and Lily were having lunch together, both just having finished their latest checkups at St. Mungo's. Remus, of course, still had to disguise how large he was using a few special charms – the last thing he needed was for some muggle (or wizard, for that matter) to realize that he looked pregnant. Therefore, despite the fact that Remus was nine months pregnant with twins (he and Sirius had decided that they wanted the babies' genders to be a surprise), he appeared to be just as skinny as ever. Lily, on the other hand, resembled nothing so much as a beached whale. Or at least, that's what she'd spent the last half hour bemoaning.

"I can't wait to get this bloody baby out of me," she said with a groan, as she sat down at a table outside a small café in Diagon Alley.

"Just think how _I _feel," Remus said as he took the seat across from her. "At least you're not having twins. These charms only make me _look _normal – I still feel like I'm about to pop."

"Yeah, well, I still say you're lucky – I don't get to hide just how fat I am," Lily grumbled. She pushed her flaming red hair out of her face as they perused the menus they'd been given.

"Oh, you look great, Lily. I don't know why you keep complaining," Remus said.

Before Lily could respond, a waiter appeared at their table. He was tall, had dark blonde hair and blue eyes, and asked in a thick Russian accent, "Are you ready to order?"

After lunch, Remus said that he still had a few things he needed to get for the babies, and Lily agreed to go shopping with him. They'd been in the store Babies R Us (Let's just pretend that's a wizard shop, shall we? Yes, we shall.) for about fifteen minutes when Remus was overcome with waves of pain. Lily turned to him in concern as he dropped the baby monitor he'd been about to purchase.

"Remus?" She asked him as he doubled over, grasping his abdomen in pain. "Are you okay?"

"No-" He gasped out. "I think –I think it might be the babies."

It was then that Lily noticed the wet spot on his pants. Remus had gone to the bathroom a few minutes ago, so she was sure it wasn't urine. She quietly pointed this out to Remus. "Um, Remus, I might be wrong, but I think you're water's broken. You're in labor."

Remus took a deep breath as the pain passed. He stood up straight once more and looked at Lily. "I think you're right," he said as he handed the shop keeper all the items he'd intended to purchase. He'd get Sirius to come back for them later. "I need to get to St. Mungo's."

Lily nodded and took his arm to offer some support as they left the shop in a hurry. Not for the first time, Lily and Remus both cursed the fact that pregnant women – or, in this case, pregnant _people_ – were not allowed to Apparate. The Ministry said such magic was too dangerous to the woman's unborn child. While Lily wasn't sure that flooing was any better, Remus was adamant that they not take the Knight Bus. She couldn't fault him for that, as it was nauseating enough traveling on it under normal conditions; taking the Knight Bus when you were pregnant was pure hell. Therefore, they had no choice but to use the floo in the Leaky Cauldron.

Just as they reached the pub, Remus nearly fell to his knees as he was hit by another contraction. "Should it be this bad so soon?" He gasped out, as Lily helped him to his feet.

"I don't know," she said. Lily frowned in concern as she helped Remus walk to the fireplace, ignoring the odd looks they were getting from the other patrons.

**"James**, remind me again _why _we're down here?" Sirius asked in annoyance.

James sighed. "Because. Moody wants us to research the histories of all the pure-blood families associated with the Dark Arts. And the only way we can to that is to come here – the Ministry's Library."

"You mean the hind-end of the magical world," Sirius said, his expression skeptical as he glanced around the enormous room on the bottom floor of the Ministry. (A/N: I'm not sure if there is a Ministry Library, but if there was one, I think it would be on the same floor as the Department of Mysteries.) It looked like an exact copy of Hogwarts' Library, except that it was larger. Much larger. "What good does he think this will do?"

"Who knows?" James asked as he pulled down a likely-looking book and set it on a nearby table. "Maybe he just sent us down here because he wants to get you out of his hair. You haven't exactly been the easiest person to work with the past few weeks."

Sirius dropped another book on the table and said, "Yeah well, if you'd been through all the stress I have recently, you wouldn't be very pleasant all the time, either."

"I guess not," James conceded as he resumed his search. "But I notice you always manage not to be quite so snippy when Remus is around."

"Well, what did you expect?" Sirius asked with a slight grin. "I love Remus, but a pregnant werewolf is not easy to deal with – especially if he's worried about losing his kids, or it's near the full moon. His mood swings are probably twice as bad as Lily's."

James grimaced. "I'm just glad that part's almost over – for all of us. Not that I'm looking forward to changing diapers or waking up at two in the morning, but at least I won't have to worry about Lily trying to hex me if I say or do the wrong thing."

"I know what you mean," Sirius said as he of one particularly ancient book. He was just about to place the book on the table when he heard something. It was Remus, and he was in pain – great pain. Sirius felt the blood leave his face as he dropped to his knees, placing his hands on his head.

"Sirius?" James asked, turning to his friend. When he noticed Sirius' position, James hurried over to him, dropping to his knees when he reached the other man. "Sirius, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Remus," Sirius gasped out, his face contorted in pain. "Something's wrong. Very wrong. I've got to get to St. Mungo's."

A/N: I know I said this one would be longer, but I decided that this would be a good place to end the chapter. I just got back from the beach, and actually meant to post this before I left. Unfortunately, I was having problems getting online, and wasn't able to update anything. Anyway, please review and remember – flames will be used to make my cauldron boil!


	10. Don't Go

**Chapter Ten**

As soon as Sirius realized something was wrong with his mate, he jumped up from his position on the floor. James barely had time to blink before Sirius was hurtling out of the tomb-like library and up the stone steps of the Ministry's lowest level towards the nearest elevator. Just as he had months ago during Remus' examination with the Ministry, James leapt to his feet and followed his friend at a sprint, hoping with all his might that nothing was wrong. However, James' reason told him that if Sirius thought something was wrong with Remus, then something was definitely wrong. _Please let him be all right, _James thought as he and Sirius skidded to a halt outside the first elevator they came to.

Sirius began impatiently punching the call button, as if that would make the door open any faster. "Open, damn it!" He shouted, and the elevator door opened almost immediately, as if in response to his demand. The two of them barreled into the small compartment, glad to find it empty. Minutes later, the elevator stopped at the top level and opened to reveal a large queue of people waiting to enter. Sirius stepped out and roughly pushed his way through the crowd, leaving James to trail along behind him. They both ignored the odd looks they were getting as they hurried across the large atrium towards the fireplaces. As soon as he reached a free one, Sirius grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the fire.

When the flames turned green, he yelled, "St. Mungo's!" before stepping into the fireplace. James followed a second later, wondering what they were going to find when they got there.

**Seconds** after Remus and Lily tumbled out one of the many fireplaces in the reception area of St. Mungo's (A/N: I don't remember if there really are fireplaces there, but in this story, there are.) Lily had staggered to her feet, calling loudly for help. She managed to get Remus to his feet when they were approached by one of the Healers, a short and somewhat plumb middle-aged man with graying hair. "What seems to be the problem, Miss?" He asked in a slightly high-pitched, nasal sort of voice.

Lily barely kept herself from flinching at the sound of his voice as she answered, "We need to see Healer Fenwick immediately."

The man shook his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Miss, but Fenwick is a very busy man, and I believe he's with a patient as we speak. Perhaps I can help you?"

Remus nearly collapsed as another wave of pain hit him. "I need to see Fenwick," he gasped out. "He's the one who's been treating me."

The Healer was clearly beginning to lose his patience. He turned to Remus, a stern glare on his face as he said, "Sir, as I already said-"

But he was interrupted when Lily reached out and grabbed him by the front of his robes and ground out, "Listen to me. My friend needs to see Fenwick. Get. Him. Now. Or you will experience the wrath of a very powerful, very angry, and very pregnant witch. Do you understand?" The Healer nodded fervently before hurrying off to find the other man.

Lily directed Remus to one of the seats nearby as they prepared to wait. Glancing at the werewolf, Lily was worried to see that his face had lost most of its color and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Don't worry, Moony," she said, placing a reassuring had on his tense arm. "Everything's going to be fine, you'll see. I mean, they just checked you out a few hours ago, what could have gone wrong since then?"

"I don't know," Remus said after taking a deep, steadying breath.

Minutes later, Healer Fenwick came hurrying out into the reception room, looking harried as the other Healer followed him. The shorter man directed him towards Lily and Remus, saying, "I told them you were busy, but they insisted on seeing you immediately. The young woman was quite-"

"Shut it, Mulberry," Fenwick said impatiently, as he hurried towards them. "Whenever one of my patients asks to see me, I don't care if I'm with someone else; I want to be told immediately." The taller man moved even faster when he saw the state Remus was in. This was bad.

"What's happened?" He asked as he reached Lily and Remus. Fenwick pulled out his wand before they could answer and began checking Remus for injuries.

"I don't know," Lily said franticly. "One second we were shopping in Diagon Alley, and the next he was doubled over in pain. I looked like his water broke, so I thought he was going into labor."

Mulberry gasped in shock. "Labor! But that's impossible! Men can't give birth!"

Fenwick nodded to Lily, completely ignoring his colleague. "You're right, he's definitely in labor. I don't know why it's happening so fast, but we've got to get him to a delivery room." Turning to Mulberry, he said, "Help me get this man out of here."

They conjured up a stretcher and placed Remus on it as gently as they could. Lily began to follow as he was being pushed away, but Mulberry turned to her and said, politely as he could, "I'm sorry Miss, but you'll have to stay here-"

"I want her with me," Remus gasped out. "Or at least outside of the room."

"Alright," Fenwick said with a nod. "Follow us, Mrs. Potter."

**Not **long after Remus was taken to the delivery room, Sirius stepped out of a fireplace in the reception room and began heading for the front desk immediately. James caught up to him as he reached the desk and rapped on the surface of it impatiently to get the attention of the blonde woman who was sitting behind it. When the woman didn't respond and simply continued perusing her apparently captivating Muggle Romance novel entitled _Sin and Sensibility_, Sirius stated angrily, "Woman, are you just going to ignore us, or are you going to do your job?"

The witch jumped violently at the sound of Sirius' voice, causing her to drop her book. She glared in an irritated manner at the two of them before paling at the somewhat murderous expression Sirius wore. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" She asked tremulously.

"We're here to see Remus Lupin," James said, as Sirius didn't seem to be capable of doing more than glaring at the woman. "He should have just been checked in."

The woman opened the large red notebook sitting on the desk and used her wand to sort through the names. A second later she came to the right page and found him. "Ah yes, Mr. Lupin, here he is. But there must be some mistake," She said, looking puzzled.

"Just tell us what it says," Sirius said.

"Says he's in delivery room three on the fourth floor, but that doesn't make any sense…" She trailed off as the two men sprinted away from her and towards the nearest stairwell.

When they reached the fourth floor, Sirius looked franticly around for room three, but didn't see it anywhere. The closest room was fourteen. He grabbed the arm of a passing nurse and demanded, "Where's room three?"

"To the left and three corridors down," he said, completely nonplussed.

Not even bothering to thank him, James and Sirius raced through the indicated doorway. They dodged Healers and patients alike in their hurry to find Remus.

Lily was sitting in a chair just outside of Remus' delivery room, anxiously hoping to hear the sound of a baby wailing sometime soon. Just as she'd begun to really panic, she spotted James and Sirius coming down the corridor when they neared room three and called out to them. "James, Sirius, thank goodness you're here!"

"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked brusquely. He anxiously noted how pale and frightened Lily looked. Sirius wondered briefly why he hadn't been feeling any of the pains he'd felt at first, before realizing that Remus must be blocking them because he didn't want Sirius to know what he was going through. When Lily nodded to the double doors across from her, Sirius turned and pulled on them. Just as he opened the doors, Fenwick stepped out. Lily and James both gasped when they saw that he was covered in blood. Sirius went pale. "What's wrong with him?" He croaked, as he began to shake.

Fenwick turned to Sirius with a small sigh. "Mr. Black, I'm afraid I don't quite understand why Remus' delivery has gone as fast as it has – most births take hours. Mr. Lupin has already given birth to one of your children – a girl. She's being checked out now, and as far as we can tell, she's completely healthy."

Sirius, James and Lily all breathed sighs of relief. James clapped Sirius on the back in celebration, thinking that was all of it. But Sirius had a feeling there was more. "What else?" He asked Fenwick. "What else has happened?"

Fenwick looked grim as he responded. "The other baby isn't positioned correctly. It's in the breech position. We've already tried everything we know to turn the child, but no luck. Normally, this would only mean a longer and more painful birth, but Mr. Lupin is already weak from the first birth. He's struggling to push, and that is not a good sign."

James pulled Lily close to him as she began to cry. Sirius fought down his rising panic and asked, "But you're going to keep trying, aren't you? You're not giving up, are you?"

"Of course not, Mr. Black," Fenwick said. "We are going to do everything we can to save your child and your mate."

Just then, the door opened again and Mulberry stuck his head out saying, "You'd better get back in here, Fenwick."

Fenwick moved towards the doors before turning back to the anxious trio and saying, "I'll let you know if anything happens." With that, he re-entered Remus' delivery room and the door closed with a resounding clack.

It had been several hours since they'd arrived at the hospital, and still there had been no news other than what they already knew. In the intervening time, Lily had sent an owl to Peter and Grace, as well as to Remus' parents. All four of them had joined the others in their vigil. Sirius had taken to pacing anxiously outside the door, hoping that this would all be over soon. James and Peter were comforting Lily and Grace and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were sitting huddled in a corner of the waiting area, their faces pale with fear. Sirius was about to go over to them when Healer Fenwick stepped out of the room once again.

He looked haggard and exhausted when he looked at them all and said, "Mr. Black, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, I've got some good news and some bad news. The second child – a boy – has just been born. He, too, seems to be fine. However," he said as everyone breathed another sigh of relief. "Mr. Lupin, as I said, was very weak at the beginning of the second delivery. We've done everything we can, but – he's fading. Fast."

Sirius rushed past the Healer and into the delivery room, ignoring the gasps of despair he heard from his friends. He nearly collapsed from grief when he saw his beloved. Remus' face was pale and covered with sweat, and his breathing was labored and shallow. None of the other Healers or nurses tried to stop Sirius as he hurried to Remus' side.

He felt to his knees when he reached Remus' bedside and took the werewolf's hand, pressing it to his lips as he whispered, "Oh God, Remus, please don't leave me. Please, please, love, don't go, I need you. Don't leave me, Remus, I can't live without you." Tears streamed down Sirius' face, but he did nothing to stop them.

Sirius looked at Remus' handsome face, and thought for a moment that his love was waking up as his eyelids fluttered slightly. Remus' chest shuddered as he took another breath. Sirius watched his mate for several seconds. His chest didn't move. He'd stopped breathing.

"Remus!" Sirius sobbed. "Come back, please come back!"

A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. I know everyone's going to hate me for this chapter, and I'm so sorry. But I had to do this. Don't worry, though. Things won't be so bad at the end. Anyway, please review!


	11. They're perfect

Chapter Eleven

Out in the hall, Lily and Grace were doing their best to comfort Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. Mrs. Lupin, whom Remus favored in both looks and disposition, was practically sitting in her husband's lap, crying on his shoulder. "Our baby's dying...Our son! Oh, Patrick, what are we going to do?"

"Ssh, love, I'm sure they're doing everything they can," murmured Mr. Lupin. He fought back his own tears as he carded his hands through his wife's sandy-colored hair.

"He's right, Mrs. Lupin," Grace said, placing a comforting hand on Mrs. Lupin's arm. "Besides, this is a happy day, right? You're grandparents."

Seconds after Remus stopped breathing, all of the Healers and nurses who'd been working on him came rushing back into the room, followed by James and Peter. The two of them managed to get their grieving friend away from Remus' bedside in order to give the Healers enough room to work. They couldn't see what was being done to their friend, but James was glad that no one asked them to leave – getting Sirius to leave Remus' room when he could be dying would be practically impossible.

Sirius was shaking violently as he watched everyone working to save his mate. If it hadn't been for James' and Peter's grips on his arms, he wouldn't have had the strength to stand. "He can't die," Sirius whispered, tears streaming down his face. "I can't lose him, guys; I don't know what I'll do without him…" Sirius broke off as he began sobbing brokenly. Distantly, Sirius felt himself being pulled into a tight embrace by someone – probably James – and he continued crying on his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, mate, don't worry you haven't lost him yet," James said shakily, as he and Peter fought off their own tears. It was hard enough watching one of their best friends die, but having to deal with a distraught Sirius was pure torture. "These guys are the best, right? They're doing everything they can for him."

"Besides," Peter said, patting Sirius' back reassuringly, "Remus just gave birth. You know how much he wanted to raise those kids. He's not going to – you know – when he's so close to getting what he wants."

"Yeah," James said, as he loosened his hold on his friend. "Hey, why don't we go get a look at those little runts of yours, hm?"

Sirius pulled back and shook his head. "You guys can go," he said. He looked back at Remus' bed, where the Healers were still hard at work. "I'm not leaving him."

James sighed. "Come on, Sirius. There's nothing you can do here. If you stay, you'll just be in the way." Peter and James exchanged a look over Sirius' head, and both nodded before once again taking hold of Sirius' arms.

"And it's not as if we're asking you to leave the building," Peter said. "We'll be just down the hall – if anything happens, they'll know where to find us."

Seeing that they weren't getting through to him, James made one last attempt. "Sirius, do you really think Remus would want you standing here, watching him like this? It's not going to do anything but make you feel even worse, and you know Remus wouldn't want that."

Sirius slumped. "Alright, let's go."

A few minutes later, the new father was standing outside the nursery with his two best friends, looking into the room at its two newest occupants. His daughter and son, each respectively wrapped up in a pink and blue blanket, were both lying in tiny cribs near the window. His daughter – Sirius knew he'd have to think of names for them soon – looked so much like Remus, it almost hurt to look at her. She had the same sandy hair (as far as he could tell – there wasn't much hair to look at), the same amber eyes, the same thin nose and high cheek bones.

His son, on the other hand, looked almost exactly like him. He had Sirius' grey eyes, ebony hair, and slightly darker skin. The three men were drawn out of their respective thoughts by the sound of someone leaving he nursery. Sirius looked up at the sound of someone approaching them. A young nurse, her long brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail was walking towards them, a friendly smile on her face.

"I'm guessing you're the father of those two little darlings?" She asked Sirius, noting the resemblance between him and the boy.

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "That'd be me. Sirius Black," he said in response to her unasked question.

Her smile widened. "Well then, Mr. Black, would you like to hold them? I'm afraid you're friends can't come in, but as you're the father, you're more than welcome."

"I'd like that," Sirius said with a nod.

At that, she turned back around and headed towards the nursery door saying, "Right this way, then."

Sirius followed the nurse through the maze of cribs – most of which were empty – to reach his children. She pulled a chair from the back wall between the two infants, so that Sirius could hold them sitting down. The woman picked up his daughter and placed her in the crook of his right arm, showing him the correct way to hold her, before doing the same with his son. "I'll just leave you three alone for a while," she said with a smile, stepping back and going to check on one of the other infants.

Sirius didn't even notice as the nurse left. He was too busy gazing in awe at the two tiny beings he and Remus had brought into this world. _They're so perfect,_ he thought to himself. _But how am I going to take care of them if I lose Remus? I don't know how to live without him._

He sat there for what felt like only minutes, but could very well have been hours before James pushed the door to the nursery open (over the nurse's objections), saying, "Sirius! Come quick! It's Remus!"

In an instant, Sirius was on his feet. He gently placed the babies back into their cribs before rushing out of the nursery after his friend. When he was out in the hall with James and Peter, he asked, "What is it? He hasn't- they haven't given up, have they? Please tell me he isn't dead, James."

James and Peter shook their heads. "We don't know. Lily just told us to get you. She said something's happened, but she didn't know what."

At that, Sirius took off back down the corridor, with James and Peter once again struggling to keep up. He was almost out of breath when he skidded to a halt at the delivery room door. Turning to Lily and Grace, he said, "Is he- please tell me he's not-"

But then the new father noticed that the two women were smiling, and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were no longer crying. He was confused at first, but then felt the beginnings of hope well up inside him. Lily shook her head, saying, "Just go in there, Sirius."

In response, Sirius pushed his way back into Remus' room.

He was met with the most welcome sight he'd ever seen. "Remus," he croaked as he hurried to his mate's side. "Oh my God, Remus, I thought I'd lost you…" Sirius cried tear of joy this time, as he feathered kisses all over his beloved werewolf's smiling face.

"Never," Remus whispered weakly. "You'll never lose me, Sirius. Besides, I couldn't leave you alone to corrupt our babies, could I?"

"No, I suppose not," Sirius said, laughing as he wiped away his tears. "You should see them, love, they're absolutely beautiful."

Before Remus could respond, a smiling Fenwick opened the door and walked into the room, holding the twins in his arms. "I thought you might want to see your babies, Mr. Lupin."

Remus nodded and held out his arms for the two babies as Sirius slid onto the bed beside him. Sirius placed an arm around Remus' shoulders while Fenwick situated the infants in Remus' arms. The werewolf looked at his new babies with the same awe that Sirius had felt when he first saw the children. Neither of them could believe that after all the fighting they'd had to go through to reach this moment, they were finally holding their babies.

"I don't believe this," Remus whispered in awe. "They're so perfect."

"Well, what did you expect?" Sirius murmured as he leaned over to press a kiss to his mate's temple. "You gave birth to them – of course they're perfect."

A/N: Did anyone really expect me to make Sirius raise the babies on his own? That would definitely stink – having to celebrate your kids' birthday on the day the love of your life died. Anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter. I expect to have the epilogue up soon. I just want a few suggestions. Should I have this fic go along the lines of the books and have Peter be a traitor, James and Lily die, and Sirius go to prison? Should I have Peter be a traitor but get discovered before he becomes Secret Keeper and have James and Lily live, and Sirius not go to prison (In this case, I'd find some other way to have them beat Voldie.)? Or should Peter and Grace get married and everyone live happily ever after? Keep in mind that I reserve the right to do whatever the hell I want to. Anyway, please review!


	12. Off To School

Chapter Twelve (Epilogue)

After Remus' difficult – and nearly fatal – delivery, they had brought the twins, Juliet Rene Black and Orion Bocephus Black home at last. Because of the Ministry's decision to give Sirius full custody of the children should their relationship fall apart, they were legally his, and therefore had to be given the name Black, rather than Lupin-Black as he and Remus had wanted. Both had inherited their parents' intelligence and magical power – Orion had first shown signs of magic when he'd thrown a tantrum at the age of four and blew up the fireplace. Two weeks later, Juliet made her brother's toy broom disappear while he was flying around their back yard because he'd broken hers. Sirius and Remus (though Remus never admitted it, and always accused Sirius of corrupting their babies) were also exceedingly proud of the fact that their children were natural pranksters – just like their parents. Of course, Juliet and Orion were best friends with James' children, Harry and his little sister Caitlyn.

Harry, to James' delight, and Lily's consternation, was also quite the talented prankster. Caitlyn was much more studious than the other three, but she had, as James had once put it, a dangerous sense of humor. They were, just as Sirius had said so many years ago, a whole new generation of Marauders.

Only Peter and Grace had not had the opportunity to have children. Just a few months after their marriage, and one week after finding out that she was pregnant, Grace had been caught in a Death Eater attack in a Muggle mall. She'd done her best to fight back and try to protect the Muggles, but Grace had eventually died at the hands of the Death Eaters. Peter, after learning of his wife's death, had been inconsolable. His friends had stood by him, done everything they could to help, but Peter had never been able to get over losing Grace. On Halloween 1981, the six month anniversary of Grace's death, Peter committed suicide. The Marauders were devastated. They'd lost friends to the war before, but somehow, they'd never expected to see the deaths of two of their own. Even now, ten years later, they couldn't celebrate Halloween without thinking of Peter and Grace, and all that they'd lost. But time, as it tends to do, went on. Wounds were healed, and the three remaining Marauders carried on their trouble-making tradition.

September 1, 1991

"Daaaaaddd! Daddy! It's time to wake up! Come on, come on, we've got to get ready!" This call was followed almost immediately by the sound of someone – or, more accurately, two someones – banging on Sirius' and Remus' bedroom door in an effort to get the two men up. After a few moments of vainly attempting to break down the door to their parents' room, Juliet and Orion gave up and wandered back to their respective rooms to finish getting dressed for the day.

Sirius groaned as he was drawn from sleep before rolling over and draping an arm around Remus' waist. "Is it really time to get up, Moony?" He asked, as his mate gave a big yawn, rubbing his eyes in a way that Sirius found incredibly adorable. "Can't we please just go back to sleep for a few more hours? Neither of us have to work today – we should be able to sleep in, shouldn't we?"

"Unfortunately, love, I think the kids want us to take them to **King's Cross**," Remus said as he moved out of his lover's embrace.

"I say we give the twins some gold and tell 'em to take the Knight Bus," Sirius mumbled. Nonetheless, both he and Remus moved around, beginning to get dressed. "After all," Sirius said, as he pulled on a pair of faded blue jeans, "Juliet loves riding on it. She seems to think it's fun."

"Maybe so," Remus chuckled, as he moved to the door of the bedroom, "But I don't think they'd be very happy if we didn't see them off."

Five minutes later, Sirius made his way into the kitchen to find Remus standing over the stove, directing the bacon and eggs to cook themselves with his wand while Juliet and Orion running around the house trying to find anything they hadn't packed yet. "No running in the house, guys!" Remus called, as Orion narrowly avoided bumping into him.

"Dad!" Juliet called moments later, as Sirius began taking down dishes and silverware. "I can't find my wand!"

Remus sighed in exasperation. "Sirius, will you finish this?" He asked, gesturing to the have-cooked meal.

"No problem, love." Sirius said.

Just as Remus left to go look for Juliet's wand, Orion came bounding back into the room, his excitement about going to Hogwarts clearly showing. "Hey Rion, got all your stuff packed?" Sirius asked his son as the boy took a seat at the kitchen table.

Orion nodded enthusiastically. "Yup, sure do, daddy. All my dungbombs and everything. Oh, and I threw in my clothes and books too, so I'm good to go."

"Well that's good," Sirius said with a laugh, as he put some food on his son's plate.

An hour later, everything was packed, wands were found, and breakfast was eaten. While Remus was hailing the Knight Bus, Sirius moved the two trunks out into the yard. "Jules, Orion, come on the bus is here!" Remus called in through the open door as Sirius levitated their luggage outside.

"We're coming, dad!" Orion answered as he hurried into the room carrying a box of owl treats along with what looked suspiciously like a case of Filibuster's Fireworks. Juliet followed her brother a second later, a large owl cage containing the regal-looking eagle-owl named Poseidon that she and her brother had gotten a few weeks ago in Diagon Alley. Remus gave them each a very pointed look when they walked outside to where the enormous triple-decker bus stood waiting.

"I thought you said you'd packed everything," he said, raising an eyebrow at his two children as everything was loaded onto the bus.

"We did, dad," Juliet said earnestly. "It's just that we didn't think you would have liked it very much if we'd left our books at home to make room for this stuff in the trunks. I mean, if you _want _us to do that, we'll be _more_ than glad to take it all out-"

"Oh hush," Remus said, a smile playing at his lips as the boarded the bus. Sirius followed behind him, barely holding in a snigger.

Thirty very bumpy minutes later and the family of four had finally reached King's Cross Station. Juliet and Orion bounded energetically off the bus, followed at a much slower pace by Sirius and Remus. Sirius, who still felt a bit week in the knees after one particularly violent stop that had landed him on the floor beneath what had to be the _largest _warlock he'd ever met, decided it might be best if he let Remus keep track of the twins. He needed to regain his strength, after all.

"Remember now," Sirius said to them while Remus went off in search of a couple of trolleys, "if you just have to prank some of the Slytherins, make sure that you can get away quickly, cause some of them can get pretty nasty and you don't know enough magic yet to really fight them-"

"Sirius," Remus interrupted, coming back with the trolleys, "do stop corrupting our children. People will think we're bad influences."

"Right you are, dear," Sirius said with a wink as they loaded the trunks onto the trolleys. The four of them ignored the stares (some hostile, some merely curious) they were getting from passersby as they walked across the crowded station.

"Okay kids, you remember what to do, don't you?" Remus asked when they'd finally reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten – the entrance to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

"Of course, dad," Orion said, moving his trolley into position in front of the barrier. "Just run!" With that, he was off and seconds later had passed soundlessly through the gateway.

Juliet glanced around, making certain that none of the Muggles were watching. After receiving encouraging nods from both of her fathers, the young girl followed her brother to the other side of the barrier. Sirius and Remus glanced at each other, smiling excitedly, before doing the same.

The first thing they heard when they reached the Platform was, "Uncle Sirius! Uncle Remus! Over here!" The two men turned to their left to see Juliet and Orion talking excitedly with another boy their age with messy black hair, green eyes, and glasses. Beside the three young first years was another younger girl with long, reddish blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. The red-haired girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly as she waved her arms, trying to get their attention.

Sirius and Remus smiled warmly at them as they made their way over through the throngs of witches and wizards. "Hello, Harry, Caitlyn. You excited about school, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Of course!" Harry said happily. "I can't wait! It's going to be great, with all the pranks we're going to play, especially since dad gave me his-" Harry stopped himself almost immediately, covering his mouth with his hand.

Sirius grinned. "Your dad gave you his what, Harry?" He asked, pretending he didn't know what his godson was talking about. He and Remus both knew that Lily had forbidden James to give Harry his old invisibility cloak; they'd also suspected that James had intended to give it to Harry without Lily's knowledge. After all, what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"Um, nothing," Harry said, grinning innocently. Juliet and Orion snickered at him behind his back.

"Where are your parents, anyway?" Remus asked, showing Harry some mercy and changing the subject.

"They were trying to find a compartment for me, but here they are now," Harry said, nodding his head in the direction of his parents.

"Sirius, Remus! Took you lot long enough, didn't it?" James asked laughingly as he and Lily approached their friends.

"Oh, be quiet Prongs," Sirius said, punching the other man lightly on the arm.

"Hey there, squirts," James said to Juliet and Orion after dodging out of Sirius' way.

"Don't call us squirts, Uncle Antler-Head!" Orion said indignantly.

"Yeah!" Juliet piped up. Before she could say anything else, however, the train whistle began to blow, indicating that they had five minutes before the train pulled out of the station.

Hurriedly, Sirius and Remus got the trunks onto the train and the four of them found the compartment Lily and James had left Harry's things in. After loading everything onto the luggage rack – including the fireworks, which Remus apparently hadn't noticed, they returned to the Platform to say goodbye. Both men were somewhat nervous about this – they wouldn't see their children again until December, after all. Sirius tried not to let his slight anxiety show as he hugged his son and daughter goodbye. He wasn't entirely certain he'd succeeded, but Sirius knew he'd done a better job than James – when Harry tried to stop hugging him so that he could say goodbye to his little sister, the Animagus broke down completely.

"Uh, dad, please stop, you're embarrassing - Dad- dad, I can't breath-" Harry stuttered, trying to escape from his dad's crushing embrace.

James, however, couldn't hear him over his continuous sobbing, "Oh my boy! My son's all grown up…"

Remus and Sirius (along with several others, whose attention had been drawn by the spectacle James was making) couldn't help laughing out loud at their normally 'macho' best friend. Finally, Lily managed to pry James off of Harry's neck. She kissed him goodbye, before wishing him, Juliet, and Orion luck as they hurried off to catch the train.

"You'll be alright Prongs," Sirius said lightly, patting the distraught man on the back. He smiled as he turned back to Remus, wrapping his arms around his mate. "Hard to believe though, isn't it, Remus? Seems like just yesterday you were telling me you were pregnant with twins."

"And now here we are," Remus said, leaning into his embrace. Once again, they ignored the strange looks they were getting from people as they walked back through the barrier. "The kids off to school and an empty house to go home to."

Sirius smiled proudly. "Yeah. We really do have ourselves a whole new generation of Marauders, though, don't we?"

"That we do, love," Remus said, placing a light kiss on his mate's lips. "That we do. What's the bet we get a letter from Dumbledore about them by the end of the week?"

A/N: Yay! I have finally finished another story! Well I hope everyone liked this one; I'm thinking about a sequel, but am not sure if I will. Anyway, I want to thank whoever it was who pointed out the mistakes I made with the last chapter. It would make since for people to have to wash their hands before entering the nursery, but I guess I forgot about that detail. Any other mistakes I made are simply because the only birth I've been present for was my own, and I was a little preoccupied with sleeping to take notes. Anyway, please review!"


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